“My Holiday with McCain”. Oh Lord, I can’t wait till this gets verified!!!

This just sounds exactly like him. (Even the satire piece I did on Cindy bringing home Bridget and his reaction sound spot on).

Please understand this has yet to be verified, but giving McCain’s record of telling a joke about a woman getting brutally raped by an ape and enjoying it (and having it told to a gathering with women present), I don’t think this may be off the mark.

(Source): My Holiday with McCain

By John ⋅ September 16, 2008 ⋅ Email ⋅ Print ⋅ Trackback ⋅ Comment

A Telling  Thoughts Comment

Endeavours are being made to contact the actual author direct even though  authentication was verified with the original poster Gabriel Hurtado, named on the Obama site shown below. Emails have gone to the Washington corporation address of the forwarder for further information.  At this stage we have no reason to doubt the letter  based on John McCain’s record, but realise it could be a nasty hoax designed to hurt those who do not support McCain. Hopefully the next 24 hours will provide the answer. I will publish any reply.

Update 1 * 17/9 - NB. Kathy the forwarder of the letter has sent me an email reply. It is published below. I have requested her to ask her friend, Ana, apparently the actual author of the email, to contact me on this matter asap.

Update 2 * 17/9 – NB. : Phoned Washington DC.  Kathy is awaiting a reply from Ana to her email , will email me as soon as she hears something.

Update 3* 17/9 – NB. Am now advised that the author is Anasuya Dubey PsyD. Apparently Ana is a highly regarded person and a Clinical Psychologist who was operating and studying in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2005. We are trying to contact her. If anyone can supply me with her email address it would be most appreciated. Please send details to john@tellingthoughts.com

Update* 18/9 – NB. Received an email this morning 18/9/08 @ 6.32 am from a Dr Michael Bower who claims to know Ana personally. He claims she has informed him that she has been speaking to a magazine which has requested her not to contact other media until a decision is made as to whether to go to print with Ana’s story.

NB. My immediate response..

Dear Dr Michael Bower /
Thank you for your email regarding the yet unacknowledged letter titled My Holiday with McCain. Sir, as you appear to have the ability to contact Ms Anasuya Dubey, I appeal to you to have her contact me directly to personally claim or reject authorship of this article. It is clear that whoever wrote the original piece wanted it placed in the public arena. However this is a double sided coin. It is now reasonable to expect the author if genuine, to publicly acknowledge his or her ownership of the document.Otherwise I am left with no option but to write an article stating that while the public could accept the possibility that the author now fears retribution if located, the letter could just as easily be the instrument of a well orchestrated hoax, albeit an elaborate one. In which case, if the letter is genuine, the originally stated goal of the author will never be realised. Truth must out. / Dr Bower I am sure you will agree, we need transparency here and now.

Fortune follows the Brave!
Thank you for contacting me,
Best Wishes /John Hay

If accurate it says much about the true character of the real John McCain and is further evidence of the fact that he is totally unfit to occupy the office of President of the United States. Every American needs to read this letter to appreciate how unfit McCain is for any public office, much less the Presidency! McCain is living a lie. He is a clear and present danger to the United States.

My Holiday with McCain

It was just before John McCain’s last run at the presidential nomination in 2000 that my husband and I vacationed in Turtle Island in Fiji with John McCain, Cindy, and their children, including Bridget (their adopted Bangladeshi child). It was not our intention, but it was our misfortune to be in close quarters with John McCain for almost a week since Turtle Island has a small number of bungalows and their focus on communal meals force all vacationers who are there at the same time to get to know each other intimately.

He arrived at our first group meal and started reading quotes from a pile of William Faulkner books with a forest of Post-Its sticking out of them. As an English Literature major myself, my first thought was “if he likes this so much, why hasn’t he memorized any of this yet?”  I soon realized that McCain actually thought we had come on vacation to be a volunteer audience for his “readings” which then became a regular part of each meal.  Out of politeness, none of the vacationers initially protested at this intrusion into their blissful holiday, but people’s buttons definitely got pushed as the readings continued day after day.

Unfortunately this was not his only contribution to our mealtime entertainment.  He waxed on during one meal about how Indo-Chine women had the best figures and that our American corn-fed women just couldn’t meet up to this standard.  He also made it a point that all of us should stop Cindy from having dessert as her weight was too high and made a few comments to Amy, the 25 year old wife of the honeymooning couple from Nebraska that she should eat less as she needed to lose weight. McCain’s appreciation of the beauty of Asian women was so great that David the American economist had to move his Thai wife to the other side of the table from McCain as McCain kept aggressively flirting with and touching her.

Needless to say I was irritated at his large ego, and his rude behavior towards his wife and other women, but decided he must have some redeeming qualities as he had adopted a handicapped child from Bangladesh .  I asked him about this one day and his response was shocking -”Oh, that was Cindy’s idea – I didn’t have anything to do with it.  She just went and adopted this thing without even asking me.  You can’t imagine how people stare when I wheel this ugly, black thing around in a shopping cart in Arizona .  No, it wasn’t my idea at all.”

I actively avoided McCain after that, but unfortunately one day he engaged me in a political discussion which soon got us on the topic of the active US bombing of Iraq at that time.  I was shocked when he said “if I was in charge, I would nuke Iraq to teach them a lesson”.  Given McCain’s personal experience with the horrors of war I had expected a more balanced point of view.  I commented on the tragic consequences of the nuclear attacks on Japan during WWII – but no, he was not to be dissuaded.  He went on to say that if it was up to him he would have dropped many more nuclear bombs on Japan .  I rapidly extricated myself from this conversation as I could tell that his experience being tortured as a POW didn’t seem to have mellowed out his perspective but rather had made him more aggressive, and vengeful towards the world.

My final encounter with McCain was on the morning that he was leaving Turtle Island .  Amy and I were happily eating pancakes when McCain arrived and told Amy that she shouldn’t be having pancakes because she needed to lose weight.  Amy burst into tears at this abusive comment.  I felt fiercely protective of Amy and immediately turned to McCain and told him to leave her alone.  He became very angry and abusive towards me, and said “don’t you know who I am” and I looked him in the face and said “yes, you are the biggest asshole I have ever met” and headed back to my cabin.  I am happy to say that later that day when I arrived at lunch I was given a standing ovation by all the guests for having stood up to McCain’s bullying.

Although I have shared my McCain story informally with friends, this is the first time I am making this public.  I almost did so in 2000, when McCain first announced his bid for the Republican nomination but it soon became apparent that George Bush was the shoo-in candidate and so I did not act then.  However, now that there is a very real possibility that McCain could be elected as our next president, I feel it is my duty as an American citizen to share this story. I can’t imagine a more scary outcome for America than that this abusive, aggressive man should lead our nation.  I have observed him in intimate surroundings as he really is, not how the media portrays him to be.  If his attitudes toward women, and his treatment of his own family are even a small indicator of his real personality, then I shudder to think what will happen to America were he to be elected as our President.

——————————————————————————————————-

Dear John,

 

Thank you so much for your email re the McCain story. I really appreciate your following up.I did not write the original email or story but forwarded it from a friend who knows Ana, the woman who had this experience. Since that is the case, kindly remove my name and work address from your blog immediately. I understand she (Ana) has contacted the New York Times and the Washington Post  as well as the people who were on Turtle Island with her.I am trying to reach her to ask if I can give out her name. I regret my email was mistakenly sent from my work email whereas it should have been sent via my personal email.

 

Kathy Sreedhar

---

Original Message —– From: gabriel hurtadoTo: San Antonio for Barack ObamaSent: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 8:18 AMSubject: [SanAntonioforBarackObama] My Holiday with McCain, POSSIBLE TRUE STORY ABOUT THE REAL MCCAIN, not anonymous, please readCheck out this encounter with McCain. It was sent to us by Kathy Sreedhar whom you might remember from our wedding at Devigarh. ————————————————————————- This email was sent to 350 members of San Antonio for Barack Obama This email was sent from gabriel hurtado hurtado.gabriel@gmail.com Listserv email address: SanAntonioforBarackObama@groups.barackobama.com Your reply will be sent to: SanAntonioforBarackObama@groups.barackobama.com Unsubscribe or change your email settings: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/SanAntonioforBarackObama/listserv-unsub ————————————————————————-

 

Discussion

52 comments for “My Holiday with McCain”

1. I don’t know if this is real, but if you think it is, send it to CNN. lol.

   Posted by Michael Traynor | September 16, 2008, 2:47 pm

2. This letter appears to be a fake.
   The dates in the letter don’t match up. How can they have been discussing the Iraq bombing before the 2000 election.

   It’s a smear. And I’m an Obama supporter. This is the kind of stuff we are fighting against.

   Editor response.

   Iraq was bombed for 12 years by British and US forces during sanctions.

   “”As I have told the House on many occasions,” said Hain [Foreign Office minister Peter Hain of the Labour Party in UK] on 2 May, “we are not conducting a bombing campaign against Iraq . . .” The Royal Air Force, together with the US, bombs Iraq almost every day. Since December 1998, the Ministry of Defence has admitted dropping 780 tonnes of bombs on a country with which Britain is not at war. During the same period, the United States has conducted 24,000 combat missions over southern Iraq alone, mostly in populated areas. In one five-month period, 41 per cent of casualties were civilians: farmers, fishermen, shepherds, their children and their sheep – the circumstances of their killing were documented by the United Nations Security Sector. Now consider Hain’s statement that no bombing campaign exists. In truth, it is the longest such campaign since the Second World War.” http://www.globalissues.org/article/107/iraq-was-being-bombed-during-12-years-of-sanctions.

   Posted by David Huntington | September 16, 2008, 9:57 pm

3. The letter looks like an obvious smear with its blatant attack on McCain – however, the Clinton Administration bombed Iraq almost daily for 8 years before Bush took office in 2000, so the years do match up if Mr. Huntington was counting on discrediting the letter for that reason.

   Posted by Mike MacKenzie | September 16, 2008, 11:10 pm

4. Now we know who is the pig in this campaign.

   I hope other people who have vacationed with McCain will pipe up and verify his bad manners.

   Just another indicator of the character of the Republican nominee. Evidence mounts to indicate that John McCain is a misogynist. It matters. This guy wants to be our leader, people! He has clearly made a deal with social conservatives that will hit us all in the GYN. They made gender an issue; his promise to overturn Roe v. Wade, in his choice of Sarah the Great She-Male Lifer of the North to scoop up Hillary supporters (so cynical!) saying she’s so tough then his insistence on ‘deference’ from the press, his ad on lipstick and his treatment of his first wife
   DIGG the article on Cindy McCain in this weeks New Yorker
   A review of the article from the Guardian UK
   “In parts, this new profile of Cindy McCain in the New Yorker is almost breathtakingly sad; it certainly makes you wonder why you’d ever marry someone with serious ambitions to be president. Perhaps the amount of deception and concealment inside the McCain marriage isn’t all that unusual, but it’s her attempt to repackage it as a sequence of charming campaign-trail anecdotes that gives this piece its undertone of desolation. There’s the now famous adoption story, which, as Ezra Klein notes, is rather strange when you look at it closely: Cindy decided to add a new member to the family but didn’t consult John at all. There’s the fact that they both lied to each other about their ages until after their marriage announcement was published in the newspaper. (”We started our marriage on a tissue of lies,” she tells one audience “with a smile” in this article. John, as we know, was married and reportedly cohabiting with his current wife at the time he met Cindy.) Less touted by the campaign, naturally, is the story of her painkiller addiction, and how she admitted stealing drugs from a medical charity she’d established; she didn’t tell her husband about her problem until she was being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Then there’s the stroke she suffered in 2004 which, she seems to say here, she recovered from with essentially no companionship from John whatsoever. In light of all this, even her stump-speech story about learning to fly without informing him begins to look less merry. (She has also repeatedly called herself an only child, despite having two half-sisters, one of whom, in this piece, is plainly extremely angry with her.)”

   John McCain is one of only a few Senators to earn a Zero percent lifetime rating from Planned Parenthood’s Action Fund, and he only scored that high because the organization doesn’t have a lower rating….

   Let’s look at his record:

   He voted against requiring health care plans to cover birth control (3/22/03).

   He voted against comprehensive, medically accurate sex education (7/25/06).

   He voted against international family planning funding (3/14/96).

   He voted against funding to prevent teen and unintended pregnancies (3/17/05).

   He voted against public education for emergency contraception (3/17/05).

   And he voted against restoring Medicaid funding that could be used for family planning for low-income women (3/17/05).

   NPR reported (2/2/08) that, “Many Republican voters seem to believe, incorrectly, that the current Republican front-runner, Arizona Senator John McCain, supports abortion rights.”

   John McCain wants us to believe that he’s a moderate who supports improving the health of women in the United States, but in fact he’s among the most extreme members of Congress who voted against common sense measures on family planning, sex education and access to basic healthcare.

   Posted by Tricia | September 16, 2008, 11:13 pm

5. Mike,

   Thanks for that clarification. I suppose I am not that up to speed on Clinton’s actions in Iraq before 2000. This would at least synch up the time frame to make it possibly a real letter from a real person.

   But I’m still wary.

   Posted by David Huntington | September 16, 2008, 11:39 pm

6. Enough is enough, John! This is not the politics that Barack Obama practices, supports or defends. The path to election victory in November is to stay focused on the real issues while helping undecided voters to accept and vote for the America that an Obama Presidency will create! If all we talk about is hate, we create more hate! If all we do is tear down all, especially our opponents, we tear down ourselves! The Obama campaign is focused on discussing and pointing out the differences between Obama’s plans and past voting record and that of McCain! Fear and hate mongering on our part only helps feed the forces against an Obama victory! Let’s talk about the positive reasons we should support Senator Obama, and leave the mudslinging to the other side. The voters who will decide this election are smart enough to see through the McCain tactics and record! Additionally, spending time on attacking Palin is neither time or energy well spent! Stay on the Obama message! Let Obama and Biden attack as they choose! Palin, despite all her views, is irrelavant, and will remain so if we keep our eyes, ears, and voices focused on the prize! Palin will only bring the voters that Obama would never win over! So, again, let’s focus our energies on the positive energy and results that an Obama/Biden Adminsitration will bring not only to America, but also all global citizens!!! Please, John, use your gift of writing to push forward the Obama message!

   Posted by Cathleen | September 17, 2008, 12:16 am

7. Well, this person is certainly real so it should be a simple matter to verify whether this is true or not: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kathy_Sreedhar

   Posted by Emily | September 17, 2008, 12:26 am

8. I want to see some pictures from this vacation posted asap!

   Posted by flag girl | September 17, 2008, 1:07 am

9. I know the writer personally, and she told me this story a few months ago. She is absolutely telling the truth.

   Editor: I am now advised that the author is Anasuya Dubey PsyD. Apparently Ana is a highly regarded person and a Clinical Psychologist who was operating in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2005. If anyone can supply me with her email address it would be most appreciated. Please send information to john@tellingthoughts.com

   Many Thanks
   JH

   Posted by Convinced | September 17, 2008, 7:03 am

10. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1571756,00.html

    Very wary about this email – mainly because I want it to be true. However according to this article, McCain was at this resort in Dec. 2005. Can anyone verify an earlier trip?

    Also, I find it interesting that senators on their vacations meet with coup leaders. And they call Barack presumputous.

    Posted by Bridget | September 17, 2008, 1:45 pm

11. FWIW: There is an Ana Dubey, Psychology Intern, H&HS – CMHS” in San Francisco listed at this link:

    http://www.co.marin.ca.us/efiles/BS/AgMn/agdocs/071030/071030-15-HR-attach-REP.pdf

    No context or dates are given in the list, just names and places, but Marin Co. is in the URL. It appears that Ana Dubey is real.

    Editor:Thank you so much for that. It all helps. I have just placed a request for Ana to contact me on the Obama Sanfrancisco Group. We’ll know soon enough.

    Posted by Lola Getz | September 17, 2008, 8:07 pm

12. This story is not a hoax. As I come across blogs questioning the veracity of this account, I submit the entry that follows. So apologies if you read this again… I have known Ana (the author) for 13 years and I know her to be intelligent, principled and unfailingly honest.

    She shared her Turtle Island experience with me immediately after it happened. The details of her account are disconcerting and I fully recognize that they are difficult to believe. However, I trust that her account is truthful and considered. I believe her. I know that she is fully aware of the maelstrom that this will cause and the attention that is coming her way, and she is brave for her willingness to share her story and disclose her name. Would you do the same?

    She has friends and family members who have known of her Turtle Island story for years. And, as her account reveals, there were others at Turtle Island who witnessed McCain’s behavior. Any one of us could have come forward with this story, but she took a deep breath and did so. The others who witnessed McCain’s behavior at Turtle Island know the risks involved in coming forward, and they have so far chosen to avoid those risks. Fair enough. Readers may choose to disregard this account, or they may choose to believe it. But I can vouch for the author and her integrity.

    Editor:Thank you. When is Ana going to publicly claim authorship in her own name? Why the delay? I reiterate please have Ana contact me. Email:john@tellingthoughts.com

    Posted by Omaha Girl | September 17, 2008, 10:06 pm

13. Hey Omaha Girl … next thing you’ll be ######## with this hoax.

    Editor: Obscenity is not allowed. Disagree by all means, but any obscene remarks will simply disappear.If you can prove it is a hoax you would be doing everyone a favour. I am trying to establish who the author actually is. If not satisfied over the next days, I will accept that it is either a hoax or perhaps the author is now afraid of recriminations.That would be understandable. Meanwhile I am trying to establish contact if possible.

    Posted by Omaha Guy | September 18, 2008, 11:19 am

14. This story is accurate. I know the author personally…..

    Posted by Anon Ymous | September 18, 2008, 3:16 pm

15. I am an avid Obama supporter; however, it seems that the author, a woman Ana Dubey (pronounced “dooby”…. as in “smokin’ a dooby”?), but the article was written from the perspective of the husband of a woman named “Amy”…. thus making me more than skeptical. Am I misreading the article? If not, am I the only one to notice this? Somebody please enlighten me.

    Posted by Gaydi Allred | September 19, 2008, 2:59 am

16. Gaydi Allred, your post is dated in the future and yes, you are misreading the letter.

    Posted by Todd Smyth | September 19, 2008, 4:02 am

17. It’s pronounced Doo-Bay….

    Posted by Anon Ymous | September 19, 2008, 5:54 am

18. I would like to make a few points here. Let’s look at what we know for sure, and see where this fits in. First, we know that John McCain has gone on swearing tirades against reporters. You can watch some of them yourself on youtube. Secondly, we know that John McCain has had at least one extramarital affair. Thirdly, we have read about Bridget McCain referred to as Cindy Mccain’s adopted daughter, and we know for a fact that John McCain was not involved in the decision to adopt Bridget, and that he was shocked when he learned Cindy had brought Bridget home. Next, there is pretty overwhelming consensus on the fact that John McCain called his wife a c**t in front of at least one reporter. In terms of wanting to “nuke iraq”, we can watch video on youtube on McCain, in a flip fashion, singing “Bomb-bomb-Iran”

    We know McCain has a bad temper, and has said rude things to other members of congress. We know he reared back to punch a woman in a wheel-chair. You can watch a video on the internet (if you look hard enough) of an elderly woman (the sister of the woman in the wheel-chair who was shoved by mccain) explaining the entire story to the National Press Club.

    All of this stuff is verifiable by use of the internet.

    So let me ask, which parts of Ana’s story do not sound like the real John McCain, the man. I’m not talking about McCain the media image, I’m talking about what we know about McCain the man.

    Editor: This is the link to the Huff post story on the wheelchair incident which was witnessed. A CNN video debate about McCain’s temperament is included. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/07/report-mccain-pushed-woma_n_124615.html . There are myriads of examples of his temper on you tube. e.g. This is an 8 min video of McCain’s shocking and dismissive treatment of Delores Alfond, Chairman of the National Alliance of Families for POW/MIA Affairs- see how it ends. Video Title: ‘John McCain brings POW Supporter to tears with his anger’. Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX6-UbHFBdI

    The letter accurately profiles the real John McCain, but that is not the point. Unless ownership of the article is authenticated it fails to achieve its purpose as described in the first four lines of the final paragraph.

    Excerpt quote > “Although I have shared my McCain story informally with friends, this is the first time I am making this public. I almost did so in 2000, when McCain first announced his bid for the Republican nomination but it soon became apparent that George Bush was the shoo-in candidate and so I did not act then. However, now that there is a very real possibility that McCain could be elected as our next president, I feel it is my duty as an American citizen to share this story”. JH.

    Posted by Concerned | September 19, 2008, 6:36 am

19. We know who wrote this story – it’s authentic – No one needs to claim ownership – The XXX is corroborating this story before deciding whether they’d like to publish or not – let’s not continue to dwell on the issue of its ownership…….

    Editor: That is not satisfactory.The unproved author of the letter has to publicly take ownership or soon be deemed a smearer and the letter a hoax. I am not interested in whether the main stream media decides to publish or not. If someone places a story into the public arena they have a reason, as the final paragraph of the letter explains. To delay admitting ownership once it has been released is not credible. I have repeatedly asked for the author to contact me, in which case Anon Ymous, since you claim to know the author. My email is john@tellingthoughts.com – I will respect the confidence of a reasonable explanation. As an avid Obama supporter I want the letter to be a true account, however I am not interested in smear.

    Posted by Anon Ymous | September 19, 2008, 7:44 am

20. I don’t think we need to be quite that impatient about it. Whether she comes public today, or next week, or next month— as long as she comes forward. Perhaps she and whatever publication are taking the time to gather as much evidence as possible to prove as much of this story as they can, BEFORE they go public with it. We all know the backlash that would take place if the story were printed, but the evidence was not gathered (such as flight itineraries, corroborating witnesses, statements on record that McCain was in Fiji the same week she claims, etc.). I think that is not only reasonable, but wise. So let’s be patient here and wait and see.

    If she does not go forward with it, those of us who are sure of its authenticity, I think, have within their right to spread the story. That’s different from a smear from our perspective, because we *know* it’s true. However, if you yourself cannot verify it, then of course, you shouldn’t spread the story around.

    In the meantime, we have to be patient. There is still a LOT of time between now and election day. And personally, I think it’s better for our nation if we focused on issues at least through the first debate.

    If this story does get published, it will spread FAST. Look how quickly news of Bristol Palin’s pregnancy got around? The problem with that was, democrats were surprised by it and were not prepared to react appropriately.

    With this story, it will be different, because I’m assuming the Obama camp has seen this story already and is digesting it.

    Do we think McCain’s people know this story is coming out? It’s hard to imagine that they don’t.

    Posted by Concerned | September 20, 2008, 12:46 am

21. If and when this comes out, the best thing for Obama to do is ignore it– continue acting presidential and talking about the economy, health care, jobs, the war in iraq, etc.

    He won’t have to do anything to make sure people hear this story.

    Plus, we can’t *assume* this will have that negative an effect on McCain. I mean, I’d like to think it will– but let’s be honest, many of us liberals do not understand how voters decide on things. Maybe tons of people will rush to his defense and say, “we’ve all said things like that”, “you who have never sinned cast the first stone.”

    Look at the rumor that flew about Palin covering up her daughter’s preganancy. When that was still a rumor going around, I read dozens of people writing, “good for her to protect her daughter”.

    So, really I have no idea how other people make up their mind about the character of others. I personally think that calling your child an “ugly black thing” is abusive, sickening and evil comment. No parent should EVER say that about their child, I don’t care how bad a day they were having. And nobody should tell women who are complete strangers that they ought to watch their weight– unless they are a dietician, and the person asked for honest feedback.

    Posted by Concerned | September 20, 2008, 12:54 am

22. Some have said this letter must be a fake because it refers to “bombing of Iraq” being in the news at the time, before 2000. In fact, the US bombed Iraq on many occasions in the years following the Gulf War (1991), because of Saddam’s violations of the No-Fly Zones, his firing of anti-aircraft missiles, etc. These bombings were widely reported in the news at the time.

    Posted by The Six Pine Trees | September 20, 2008, 3:13 am

23. XXX has decided not to publish. Unfortunately none of the other vacationers were willing to attach their names to the story for obvious reasons! Reporters have been calling in and asking for interviews but at this time it looks like the story will not be published.

    Posted by Anon Ymous | September 20, 2008, 4:35 am

24. It is hard to imagine this email as being an absolute true record of events seeing as how humans tend to skew and warp events they witness, no matter how many times its retold. However, there are a few things that add up in th is email about McCain.

    1) Being a POW for as long as he was and in the manner in which he stayed a POW would suggest he has a chip on his shoulder; something to prove. Post traumatic stress disorder is no joke. Very few soldiers adjust to regular life in society after hardship in war. So McCain’s foreign policy is something to be feared, especially when he stated in the Republican Convention that he will refuse to offer “AID” to any country that doesn’t like us. A very vague statement; as if the world didn’t hate us enough.

    2. McCain is far from ‘distinguished’ where it concerns physical attraction. Yet, he manages to go after thin, attractive women much younger than himself. So statements regarding his concerns about his wife’s appearance are justified to some extent.

    3. What McCain did with his ex-wife is horrible and is a situation well documented and verified. After a disfiguring accident, McCain divorced his wife and married Cindy. Obviously, because he didn’t want to be tied-down to a disfigured, ugly, woman. He thought only of himself and discarded his wife when she was of no longer use to him. This act alone, helps justify statements made about McCain’s disdain for his adopted child. Perhaps, it reminds him of how he was almost disfigured as a POW.

    IN all honesty, if you go back and look at interviews with McCain its not hard to see the type of man he is. All too often party-devotion blinds people (and I mean that on both sides!) to the truth. These people justify things in order to ensure their decision and faith in a person is correct. How many people in this world want to believe they voted a psychopath into office? No one, unless they were profiting by it.

    Just my 2 cents on the credibility issue.

    Posted by EarthWorm Jim | September 20, 2008, 5:50 am

25. First off, the timeline is wrong. The whole thing is set up as taking place “before John McCain’s last run at the presidential nomination in 2000″. John McCain launched his 2000 presidential campaign in 1999, on Monday, September 27. Frankly I think this whole thing is made up, but assuming the author just goofed the year, this would have been in 1999, right around the publication date of McCain’s book Faith of My Fathers on August 31, 1999.

    The dates are more troublesome. The author states that the McCains arrives with their four children, including the explicitly cited Bridget. Here’s the thing, Turtle Island is an exclusive couples only resort except for a few weeks a year which are set aside as Family Time. This year there are only about seven weeks reserved for families, four around Christmas and three in June and July. No other children are mentioned.

    The paragraph about the McCain’s daughter Bridget was what really offended me. First, I do not believe McCain a) ever said any of that and b) ever pushed a shopping cart. Second, again with the timing, Bridget would have been 8 or 9 years old in 1999-2000. Long, long past being “pushed around in a shopping cart.” As McCain himself said, regarding people who attacked his daughter Bridget, “I believe that there is a special place in hell for people like those.”

    In 1999, there was a US led bombing campaign on targets in the northern Iraqi no-fly zone during 1999. I’d forgotten we were actively bombing at that time.

    “Indo-Chine women.” Really…

    I do not believe the attributed author, Kathy Sreedhar wrote this. Mrs. Sreedhar is the director of the The Unitarian Universalist Holdeen India Program (UUHIP). I emailed her asking about this, hopefully she’ll reply. I couldn’t find any online biography which would corroborate details of the story, but she did give Barack Obama $250 in June 2007. Her contact info was included with the message, I omitted that even though it’s readily available online.

    If I’m reading this Harvard Class of 1955 page correctly, Kathy Sreedhar is a little old to be referring to herself as “an English Literature major.” I would think several decades working with poverty and caste discrimination in India might give her a different reference point. To me, it also seems somewhat doubtful such a person would choose Turtle Island as a vacation spot, but that’s probably projection on my part. Of her writings which I could find, she seems to have a different sense of pacing than the author of this piece.

    At very least, this doesn’t seem to be plagiarized. I searched on many, many different combinations of key ideas and nothing came up in Google.

    Posted by Bobo | September 20, 2008, 6:53 am

26. In response to Earthworm Jim’s comments: Indeed, sir, indeed.

    What amuses and amazes me is this: Yes, we all now know how *abominable* his “treatment” of Carol (his first wife) was. It is indeed well-documented. Furthermore, McCain admits to such reprehensible behavior, and passes it off with “I was selfish and cruel, etc etc.” Yes, John McCain, so we’ve gathered. You did leave out morally repugnant, an irony not lost on me, who thinks this is a riot, based on the GOP’s stance on “morals” and “family values.”

    But did you REALLY think that simply saying “Gee, that sure was wrong of me” fixed or changed anything? Hardly. I mean, maybe, just *maybe*…if you were John Doe from Anywhere, USA, you could say that, and it would pass. (Well, sort of. People would still think you’re swinish scum, but hey, you wouldn’t be running for office either.)

    But such skeletons in a candidate’s closet? Surely you jest; anyone remember Gary Hart? And the last bit: How in the hell does the former Mrs. McCain still support him after all that?! They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned; I’m guessing that the doctors removed her scorning gland during surgery. But that’s just how I see it.

    Posted by Dread Lord Nate | September 20, 2008, 8:43 am

27. You seem to forget about Clinton’s affairs, what ever did happend to the women that he raped?

    Posted by ROFLOL | September 20, 2008, 9:08 am

28. I am pretty sure that “Bobo” is someone from the McCain campaign. That’s all a pretty well thought out attempt to rebut the story. However, Bobo has several problems in his argument.

    1. Kathy Sreedhar is not the author of the story. I have the author’s name, and that’s not it . Kathy is just someone who passed the message on who verfied the author’s reliability.

    2. Just because there are only a few weeks a year set aside for family time in Fiji (how does Bobo know this, becuase Bobo asked McCain) doesn’t mean that that’s not when they were there? They could have very well be there during family time in June or July. No the author doesn’t mention any other children, why would she? Just because she doesn’t mention any children doesn’t mean there weren’t other children there.

    3. Only a McCain operative would have researched how much money Ms. Sreedhar gave to Obama. It’s irrelevant because Sreedhar didn’t write this story and was not in Fiji. Secondly, if the events of this story happened to me, you can bet I would have given more than $250 to Barack Obama!

    4. The part about the shopping cart? McCain didn’t say, “I just pushed her in a shopping cart this summer”. He could have been referring to when they first brought the child home, and how embarassed he felt! whether or not McCain would actually shop in a grocery store is another story– but it doesn’t matter. He was saying it to be “funny” and to explain how ashamed he was of his own daughter.

    Posted by anonymous | September 20, 2008, 10:59 am

29. Also I am very saddened that this story is not going to come out to the public. What a wasted opportunity to reform our country, by outting an abusive man. Now, abusive men will still be allowed to run washington. It’s well known that prostitutes made a killing in St. Paul during the republican convention. These guys are scum. Whether they are democrats or republicans, they ought to be exposed for their behavior. Whether it’s Spitzer, Bill Clinton, Gary Hart, the republican guy who sexually harassed pages (I already forgot his name) or John Sidney McCain.

    Posted by anonymous | September 20, 2008, 11:02 am

30. Also, Bobo assumes that when the author says “Before his campaign in 2000′, that they meant before his campaign AND in the year 2000. However, what the author meant was “some time before mccain’s 2000 presidential campaign”. to me, that 1999, presumably june or july during family time at turtle island.

    Nothing bobo says refutes the story AT ALL.

    Posted by anonymous | September 20, 2008, 11:07 am

31. Also, I have been doing some research on Turtle Island. Each child that vacations at turtle during “family time” is assigned to a nanny or a “bula buddy”– the children basically have baby-sitters so the adults can enjoy themselves. that’s why our author, ana, would not have been seeing children everywhere during her stay. her interactions with mccain very likely would have taken place without the children present.

    I don’t see any way this story could have been fabricated. We can be almost 100% certain that Ms. Dubey vacationed at Turtle Island with McCain. There is no reason to doubt that.

    The particulars of McCain’s behavior? That is still up for debate, although I personally have reason to believe the account is truthful.

    Posted by anonymous | September 20, 2008, 12:21 pm

32. So, I am reading a book about McCain called “Man of the People: The Life of John McCain,” by Paul Alexander (as part of my research to verify Dubey’s story). Page: 187 reads:

    “Officially the committee was established on December 30th, 1998, when aides went to the Federal Election Commission in Washington and filed papers that made him the first Republican to declare his intention of running for President in 2000. McCain could not have been more unavailable for comment on the filing of his papers; he AND HIS FAMILY were on vacation in FIJI.”

    I don’t know about that year, but this year, Family Time at Turtle is December 13th-January 11th. It completely matches up with the account in the book. So when the McCains were in Fiji, they very well could have been at family time at Turtle Island Resort!

    Wow, this is electrifying, everything so far is checking out.

    Also, go to http://www.Turtlefiji.com. Go through the website and you can verify through photos the communal style dining that Dubey describes. You can also see that the food looks pretty good, although it doesn’t specifically mention pancakes.

    Does anyone else still really believe that this story is a complete hoax?

    Posted by The Real McCain | September 20, 2008, 12:38 pm

33. Anyone think it’s interesting to note that Meghan McCain voted for John Kerry in 2004?

    Posted by anonymous | September 20, 2008, 1:16 pm

34. This is from talkinpointsmemo.com:

    What Does This Say About McCain?
    09.04.08 — 2:55PM By David Kurtz
    This has been nagging at me for a while. Karl Rove this morning told yet another variation on the story of the McCains’ adoption of their daughter Bridget. In his version, like the others I’ve heard, Cindy didn’t tell John in advance that she was bringing this child back with her from abroad. She just did it, a fact which usually gets a hardy-har-har from friendly audiences.

    In Rove’s version today, Cindy specifically told someone else not to tell John in advance. The point of Rove’s story was that John McCain needs to reveal more of himself publicly so that voters can see the kind of character he has.

    —-
    Rove still has an axe to grind with McCain. If McCain talked about Bridget that way in Fiji, he’s done it before. And if that’s the case, Karl Rove probably knows about it. And he’s hinting at something here that he knows is a sore point between the McCains (most people are upset when their spouses bring home a new purchase over $100, much less a baby. Can you imagine bringing home a baby without discussing it first with your spouse? Then again, on the McCain-Palin ticket, having babies is a private matter– even within one’s immediate family.

    Posted by the real mccain | September 20, 2008, 1:27 pm

35. I canted the turtle island resort in Fiji– they will not be able to respond as to whether the McCains have vacationed there. However, they did state “we have many famous guests”; but want to maintain their privacy (explaining why none of their staff would be willing to corroborate the story with any reporters).

    Not to mention the vacations are at least $15,000 a pop, and I doubt they are interested in losing the McCains’ business, or any other wealthy clients who want their presence there kept private.

    Posted by the real mccain | September 20, 2008, 11:54 pm

36. I’m totally not in to politics and I believe all candidates are devious and actors to some extent. That being said, I received a letter from a distant cousin who heard Ana tell the account of the Fiji Island vacation two years ago. She was given “the letter” recently and can vouch that she knows Ana told her the same story 2 years ago. She gave me permission to copy and send you her paragraph she sent her relatives as she forwarded “the letter” account of the vacation at Fiji Island. Here it is:
    From Lucy Sperlin:
    I don’t forward political ‘stories’ usually, but I have first hand knowledge of this one. It is written by an Indian woman named Ana, who lives in San Francisco. She has been a good friend of my niece since childhood. Ana’s dad is an Indian diplomat, once ambassador to Peru, (Brinda is Ana’s mom, -a good friend of my sister who is married to an Indian and lives in Delhi). So Ana is world traveled and very well educated. I was visiting my niece (a Dr. at Santa Clara Valley Hospital) one time a couple of years ago, and Ana and her husband came to visit, and I heard this story directly from her at that time. I had thought of it many times recently, wishing I could remember the details better. Then here, lo and behold, my brother-in-law has sent it to me in writing! So it is absolutely legitimate and real. The story speaks for itself.

    Lucy

    Posted by Lois Whitehead | September 21, 2008, 3:08 am

37. Thanks to Lois for putting me on to this blog site which I had not seen prior to forwarding Ana’s story to some friends, one of whom was my second cousin who is Lois’s dad, who forwarded it to her. I’m amazed at the buzz about this story which was, indeed, written by Ana Dubey. I understand the scepticism –of course if you didn’t know what I do you’d be skeptical. But rather than repeat what I said that Lois has forwarded to you, I’ll just say that it is real, Ana is real, and I was one of those people she told the story to in the last few years. I was visiting my niece, in the S.F. Bay Area. Ana and her husband came to visit one evening. At that time it just seemed to be an icky story of an egotistical and unpleasant politician from another state exhibiting a tendency toward psychological abuse that makes one cringe at a real life portrayal of the ‘ugly American’.
    But in recent months it has kept coming back to my mind. I didn’t know Ana had put it in writing until my brother-in-law sent the written account to me a couple of days ago. The forward included a note from Ana’s mother who sent it to him. She has been a long time friend of he and my sister.
    So, am I real or just cooking up a story? I’m a 71 yr. old woman with white hair whose ancestry goes back to the 1600s and 1700s in America. I spend most of my time doing volunteer work that is not political (CASA, Historic Preservation and archival work, and UU Church). League of Women Voters is about as close to politically active as I get and my comfort zone is Leagues non-partisan appproach to decision making on issues. I’ll admit to supporting Obama, partly because I believe he is not only incredibly bright, but has an international sensitivity and savvy, and an inherent decentness and caring for people in their life struggles. I believe Ana’s story is abundantly telling about the other candidate.

    Posted by Lucy Sperlin | September 21, 2008, 2:39 pm

38. I located a New York Times article that verifies that McCain actually took the Fiji vacation in 1999 as referenced in the email story.

    The Jan 3, 1999 article says, “Back home in Phoenix after a Fiji vacation, the usually unequivocal Republican equivocated about what should happen to Mr. Clinton.”

    source: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE6DD1F3FF930A35752C0A96F958260

    Posted by Eastwood | September 22, 2008, 5:12 am

39. Further research indicates that Mr. Sushil Dubey was the Ambassador of India to Peru (referenced in the McCain story) from April 1983 – July 1986. However, I was not able to check if he was Anasuya’s father.

    source: http://www.embajadaindia.com.pe/english/embajada/historia.htm

    Posted by Eastwood | September 22, 2008, 5:15 am

40. I think we can verify McCain’s admiration for William Faulkner by his 1992, Houston convention speech.

    quote:

    There is a quote by the great writer, William Faulkner, which I have always admired. “I decline to accept the end of man,” he wrote. “I believe that man will not merely endure, he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul of spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.”

    Today, on every continent, Faulkner’s hopeful creed has been affirmed. Nearly half a billion people have emerged from communism and authoritarianism into a new age of enlightenment. No nation has contributed more to the global success of liberty than America. And no President has served this noble cause with greater courage and wisdom than President George Bush.

    source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/us/politics/mccain-speeches.html?pagewanted=print

    Posted by Eastwood | September 22, 2008, 5:18 am

41. Turtle Island’s owner and former bond trader in the U.S., Richard Evanson, invited Mccain to Turtle Island for Christmas, 1998. He said, “We are set up at the island [so that] all the guests eat at the same table for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so there would have been huge discussions about the politics of Fiji.”

    While there, McCain met “lots of times” with Military Commander Voreqe “Frank” Bainimarama who overthrew the Fiji government on Dec 5th, 1998. The article verifies that Bainimarama’s family members were present. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that McCain’s family members were also welcomed to the exclusive resort.

    source: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1571756,00.html

    Posted by Eastwood | September 22, 2008, 5:37 am

42. A McCain biography, Man of the People By Paul Alexander, also verifies that McCain was in Fiji WITH HIS FAMILY on December 30, 1998.

    quote from page 187:

    “McCain could not have been more unavailable for comment on the filing of his papers; he and his family were on vacation in Fiji.”

    http://books.google.com/books?id=yL60SByrfcUC&pg=PA187&dq=mccain+fiji+1998&sig=ACfU3U1kWxOQpnSWjQkgIXZtdWIn2ISUug

    Posted by Eastwood | September 22, 2008, 5:51 am

43. Great work Eastwood. (although you’ll see I already added the piece from Alexander’s biography of McCain).

    All this points to near certain verification that Anasuya Dubey was on this vacation with McCain. I can’t believe there isn’t some media outlet that wouldn’t run this story, even without a corroborating account.

    Posted by the real mccain | September 22, 2008, 6:54 am

44. Now, I am pretty sure that some of the folks who also heard McCain’s comments in Fiji have taken a look at this site, and are reading this right now.

    I can only beg of you, PLEASE, at the very least, post an anonymous comment on this site verifying what you saw. . . . .

    Posted by the real mccain | September 22, 2008, 8:58 am

45. One small detail – where the author says that McCain states that ‘if it was up to him he would have dropped many more nuclear bombs on Japan.’ That is simply impossible. We had only two nuclear weapons at the time, and McCain, as a graduate of a military academy, would certainly have known that.

    The letter is a hoax. There’s just NO way even the casual student of WWII would not have known such an important fact.

    Posted by fred | September 23, 2008, 10:58 pm

46. Interesting. I googled this person. While it is SUPPOSED to be a doctor, I managed to turn up the same name on a 1996 document. While finding a “john smith” would not be unusual, this name, ANASUYA DUBEY would seem to be…..well pretty unusual.

    This same person is credited with helping (as a member of the bar) with a paper on employment practices for gay and les bian attorneys.

    page 3 states “We would also like to thank Anasuya Dubey and Elizabeth Tam of the Bar Association,who have provided valuable assistance to the Committee throughout this endeavor”

    http://womenlaw.stanford.edu/basfemploypolicy.pdf

    Posted by 1forthetruth | September 24, 2008, 4:10 am

47. @1forthetruth – keep in mind that anasuya is an indian name. there are over 1 billion indians in this world. a basic understanding of statistics should let you know that it is not neccessarily an uncommon name, rather you are showing cultural bias in your logic.

    Posted by morethanabillion | September 24, 2008, 4:33 am

48. Fine, but Anasuya Dubey is a particular person. A PsyD, clinical psychologist in The SF Bay area, and the daughter of a former indian diplomat. How many people fit that description with the name Anasuya Dubey? Just curious.

    There is another Anasuya Duby in Hawaii, who is in the culinary arts. But that’s not the author of this particular piece.

    Posted by real mccain | September 24, 2008, 4:51 am

49. @real mccain – there are apparently two, a PsyD and an attorney. It’s not that difficult. BTW, I want to believe this letter is legit, I’m not a trolling Republican.

    Just because a name is not familiar with you to does not mean it is extremely unique.

    Posted by morethanabillion | September 24, 2008, 6:23 am

50. Fred – McCain graduated at the bottom of his class at Annapolis – about 5 notches up from it. He’s no student. Not a student of anything but surviving whatever situation he’s in. He’s a loose cannon, possibly mentally unstable from the torture he experienced in ‘Nam. There are many high-functioning yet deranged people alive in politics. The community around them insulates their truth from being revealed. We will see his personality show up in the staff he has around him and his campaign. Note how the McCain/RNC campaign has moved into the Palin “Troopergate” investigation. We are in deeper trouble if this Republican ticket is elected and the economy continues to tank.

    Posted by makalani | September 24, 2008, 6:25 am

51. Makalani – you obviously want to believe this letter. You are diagnosing a man you probably have never met, crediting him with being high-functioning on one hand, and deranged on the other as suits your purposes. Does that say more about McCain – or you?

    As far as handlers, I believe Obama’s are probably as experienced as McCain’s. But McCain does have a long record that includes reaching across the aisle. Are you saying the Democrats who supported his efforts supported a ‘loose cannon’? Perhaps some of his ‘high functioning’ is useful?

    I will agree with ‘high functioning’. But isn’t that what we want? Perhaps you could illuminate what Obama’s contributions have been anywhere he has been. Other than running for office, what has he accomplished? Is his ‘high functioning’ limited only to advancing himself?

    As far as I can see, this letter is a fraud. It puts the people circulating it lower than the Swift Boaters. They at least stood up in front of the cameras to make their case.

    I am open to any reasonable argument. If you have one to make, that’s fine. I would love to hear it.

    Posted by fred | September 24, 2008, 7:04 am

52. XXX is now in contact with Ms. Dubey to publish the story. Stay tuned!

    Posted by Anon Ymous | September 24, 2008, 7:30 am

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